Ohio Senate passes ‘success sequence’ bill, which would require schools teach when to have kids
Ohio schools would be required to teach students to graduate high school, get a job and get married — in that order — before having a baby, according to a bill the Ohio Senate passed last month.
This order of events is also known as the success sequence and Senate Bill 156 passed with a 24-9 party-line vote. State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, introduced the bill which now moves to the Ohio House for consideration.
“We have an obligation to the next generation,” Cutrona said. “We need to help them break the chains of poverty. Now this bill provides just that, creating the opportunity by taking (a) three-pronged approach.”
The bill requires the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to create a model curriculum for the success sequence for grades 6-12 and this would be a graduation requirement.
The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that published Project 2025, provides model legislation for the success sequence.
“This, by no means is some golden ticket to the rich heels,” Cutrona said. “This is an opportunity — one thing that we can do that can help break those chains of poverty.”
Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, said this bill will help break Ohio’s cycle of poverty.
“We’ve got an obligation to try to break that poverty cycle by giving these kids positive intervention that will help them want to improve their lives and grow,” he said. “And if we don’t do it, we’re going to continue to see the same old thing over and over again.”
Following these sequences of events means people are “overwhelmingly less likely to live in poverty in adulthood,” according to the bill.
However, a 2021 study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found those who finish high school, work full time, and get married are less likely to experience poverty, but the order did not matter much.
Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, said this bill might be the least effective policy solution to combat poverty.
“If we were serious about fighting poverty and being a help to Ohio’s working poor, we could be providing paycheck protections or working family support,” he said. “Poverty is not a failure of personal responsibility, it is a failure of public policy priorities. And in that respect, Senate Bill 156 will not change poverty in Ohio for those who need it the most.”
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said the bill leaves out the lived experiences of many families in Ohio.
“This bill promotes certain values that don’t reflect the experiences of many Ohio families,” she said. “… It tells kids there’s only one way to have that successful family structure that’s not unconventional.”
Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, said he is perplexed by opposition to the bill.
“We have been throwing money at the war on poverty, and where has it gotten us?” he said. “Not very far. We need better life decisions to be made. We’re not dictating people how to live their lives. We’re making suggestions.”
Tennessee passed a similar success sequence bill earlier this year and Utah enacted a similar law last year. Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas all had similar bills this year as well.
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